Our Favorite Life Improvement Strategies List

Have a bowl of cut veggies out on the staff table.

Keeps the nibbling in healthy-land.

Watch less TV.

No other suggestion is more of a game changer than this one with our clients. It forces a higher level of boredom, which motivates us to find more enriching activities – like chatting with friends, learning something, or getting active. Oh, and that goes for all screens.

Hang out more with the people who make you feel great.

Our lives get happier when we feel connected, have fun and laugh. So go absorb the good vibes by busting through the busyness of life by making plans on the weekly. This way quality connect time doesn’t get pushed aside by life obligations.

Take a needs inventory.

Rarely do we stop to evaluate what we need, in the course of a week, to make us function optimally. For example, extroverts will need a certain amount of people time, introverts some satisfying alone time and ambiverts, a good combination of both. When life matches needs, we feel fulfilled.

Have more real conversations.

When we spend time having emotionally intimate conversations, we feel known. This feeling is a great preventer of anxiety, stress, and unhappiness. So, chat up some immunity!

Have more sex.

Whether with a partner, or solo, orgasms are beneficial. The oxytocin they release lowers the stress hormone, cortisol, which helps the immune system, improves mood, helps control weight and improves sleep. So, get on getting’ it on!

Crank the music.

Listening to music is an easy way to cram some happy – making benefits into your daily. It helps with motivation during exercise or boring tasks like cleaning. I mean, who hasn’t kitchen rock starred-out while unpacking the dishwasher? Okay, maybe just me – but it also helps reduce stress, elevate mood and improve cognitive performance. Whether it’s classical while studying, Beyonce while doing dishes or Tiesto on the spin bike, music is a life enhancer.

Follow a low information diet.

Today, we are inundated with news, social media updates; basically a global “what’s up” 24/7. But why? All taking in every it of news does is clog up your brain, removing energy from where it should be – on your life. Instead, view your mental energy as a finite resource. Divy it up amongst areas that are in your sphere of control or influence. Can you or are you going to do anything about the flood 2 continents away? If not, use the space in your mind to effect change in an area you can – whether in volunteer hamper-packing or having a heart to heart with your kids. Free your mind from clutter and the idea that you have room to successfully care about it all.

Buy less shit.

Instead of considering only the dollar amount of an item, consider the emotional, time and stress costs as well. That hot tub you want? How much anxiety will you have about the overspending, the chemical maintenance and if it is used enough? Not to mention the permits, moving it and all the logistics. If at the end of it it’s still worth it, go for it. But, at least it’s a well-informed decision.

Work it out.

I get that a lot of people think therapy is only for preventing crazy. But, I happen to know (through experience as a human being) that everyone has a little crazy. Rather than avoiding, wading through or being side tracked by your crap (which I know you know is there, by the way) why not get it dealt with? Dig into the eaves of your mental machine, and have one of our therapists clear it out. It gets everything flowing better, so you’re out of your own way.

To get started with your own life improvement plan, call Shift Psych today.

If it’s worth doing, do it now (or yesterday even). How does it make sense to wait all year to make a change, and why? So you can cram in that last carton of ciggies, slam another few poutines or yell at your kids for one more month? When put like this, we don’t even need to spell out the lack of logic.

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